The Tara Tailored Jacket

Pattern Markings

Transfer all pattern markings and notches to the fabric using a fabric pen or tailors chalk.

Interfacing – Using the manufacturer’s instructions, apply interfacing to the following pieces:

• Lapel x 2
• Collar x 1
• Front Facing x 2

TIP – Trim half the seam allowance (¼ inch) off the interfacing pieces before ironing it on. This reduces bulk in the seam allowance and allows the garment to sit flat.

For best results, the interfacing should be placed on each Facing piece and begin ironing from the center to the outside of the yoke to avoid wrinkles. I suggest you do a test patch on a spare piece of fabric first. 

Optional Bias Binding – If you are following the half back lined version, you will need bias tape to finish the seams in step 5. If you have purchased ready-made bias tape, check it is 1 inch wide when completely unfolded.

If you made your own bias tape by cutting strips on the diagonal, we are going to fold and press as if we were making single fold bias tape (don’t worry if you don’t know what that is, just follow these instructions). 

• Fold one bias strip in half lengthwise with wrong sides together. Press well.
• Open the central fold back out and fold each long raw edge into the middle of the fold so that the long raw edges are all hidden. Press.
• You now have ½ inch single folded bias tape. The raw edges should be folded into the middle.

If you get stuck, download our free bias tape tutorial from here and follow the instructions for ‘single fold bias tape’. 

You will be creating darts in the back pieces (main fabric and full back lining option) and Front Bust (main fabric).

There are many ways of transferring dart markings from a pattern piece to your fabric. If you have a method you are more familiar with, please use this. Alternatively, here is how I like to do it.

Lay one of the back pieces wrong side up on your ironing board.  

Place the pattern piece on top, lining it up accurately with your fabric. Place a pin directly through each of the four corner points of the dart, making sure it goes firmly into the ironing board.

Lift the pattern piece slightly, being careful to keep your pins in place.  

Holding the pattern up out of the way, place a pin under the pattern piece into the fabric where each of the four pins are. As you place the new pin in, remove the old pin. You should now be able to lift the pattern piece out of the way and still have four pins marking each of the corner points of the dart.  

Draw the dart, in between the corner points, using tailors chalk or a special fabric pen for fabric marking that washes or fades out. Keep the four pins in the fabric at the corner points.

With right sides together, fold the fabric of the back down the centerline of one dart. 

Stitch from the middle of the dart at its widest and sew toward one point. 

At this stage, you will have only stitched one half of one back dart.

TIP – To get a very neat dart without any lumps, do not backstitch at the tip of the dart. Instead leave your threads long and tie them in a knot by hand when you have finished stitching. Check the knot is very secure then trim the threads to approximately ½ inch long.

NOTE – The reason we use directional stitching here is that it helps preserve the grainline. In the case of a double-pointed dart like these back ones, it gives you more control over the angle as you approach the point and ensures that you’re never starting to stitch at the edge of the fabric. Starting to sew at the edge is tricky because your sewing machine can pull the fabric down and chew it up.

Stitch along the dart line markings from the folded edge of the fabric, to the point of the dart in the direction of the blue arrow.

You should now have completed stitching one back dart.

TIP – To get a very neat dart that sits without any lumps, do not backstitch at the tip of the dart.  Instead, leave your threads long and tie them in a knot by hand when you have finished stitching.  Check the knot is very secure, then trim the threads.  

Clip into the middle of each dart. Press the darts towards the center back.

TIP – Do not snip too close or you’ll end up with a hole! Just go far enough to help the point sit flat when we turn it right way out. To secure the snip, you can add a drop of fray check if you want. 

TIP – Use the very end of your scissors for maximum control. If you use mid-way through the blade, you’ll have less control and are much more likely to accidentally cut through your stitching.

Repeat steps 1.2 to 1.4 for the other back piece and both back lining pieces (for full back lining option only).

Use the same process in step 1.1 to transfer the bust darts onto the Front Bust piece.

NOTE – This dart is shaped differently to the back dart, and only requires 3 pins. This dart forms a triangle shape as opposed to the diamond shape on the back pieces.

With right sides together, fold the fabric down the centerline of one dart.

Stitch along the dart line markings from the raw edge of the fabric, to the point of the dart in the direction of the arrow.

Carefully press your waist dart toward the outside edge of the bodice.

Repeat steps 1.5 and 1.6 for the dart on the other Front Bust piece.

With right sides facing, pin the Collar pieces together, along the top short edges and outer curve. 

Stitch using a ½ inch seam allowance.

NOTE – One Collar piece will have interfacing as per the preparation step.

Clip corners and trim seam allowance.  

Turn right side out and press.

With right sides facing, pin one of the interfaced Lapel pieces on top of a non-interfaced piece. Pin along the straight short edge, outer curve and angled short edge, stopping at the transferred marking.

Repeat 3.1 for the second Lapel.

Clip the corners to reduce bulk.

Use the transferred line you marked earlier and sew around the keyhole marking, using a ½ inch seam allowance.

NOTE – The top edge of the keyhole marking doesn’t have a seam allowance. Sew straight across the top meeting up to the either side of the seam allowance.

Cut up your slit marking (shown in blue in step 3.3) stopping ½ inch before you reach the top of the box. 

Then carefully snip from the top of your cut slit towards each corner. Do not go beyond the corner, just as close to it as you can.

Turn the Lapel right side out and press.

Repeat steps 3.1 to 3.5 for the second Lapel.

You’re going to attach each frill Lapel to each side of the Collar, through the open bottom short edges, matching the notches.

With the right sides facing up, insert the open edge of the frill Lapel into the open edge of the Collar. Open both pieces so wrong sides are facing up and pin along raw edges, matching the seam allowances.

NOTE – Check that you are matching up the correct side of the Lapel to the correct side of the Collar. The interfacing pieces should be on the same side once opened.

Stitch using a ½ inch seam allowance. 

Close the Collar and frill Lapel so right sides are facing up and press.

TIP – I find it easier to stitch from the center seam to one end, and then from the center to the other end.

Repeat for the other side of the Collar and frill Lapel.

With right sides together, place the Front Middle Panel on top of the Front Bust piece and pin. 

NOTE – The short edge of the front middle piece needs to line up with inside edge of the Front Bust piece. 

Stitch using a ½ inch seam allowance. 

Press the seam allowance open.

Fold the Pocket Flap in half, with the right sides together, matching notches, and pin. Stitch along each of the short ends using a ½ inch seam allowance.

Clip the corners, turn right side out and press.

With the right sides together, matching notches, pin the Pocket Flap on top of the front middle piece, matching up the markings. Baste the Pocket Flap to the bodice.

TIP – If you haven’t done basting before, it’s just like normal stitching except the stitches need to be long and loose so that you can remove them later, if needed. The idea is that you stitch within the seam allowance, so you don’t see them in the final garment, but you want them to be loose enough to pull out just in case they are visible. The purpose is to hold a piece of fabric in place until you get to the point of stitching that section properly. Set your machine to a long loose stitch. Test it on a piece of fabric first to make sure you can easily remove it later. Do not back stitch at either end. Leave the ends loose and leave approximately 1 inch of thread tails at either end of your stitching.

Place one of your Pocket Bag pieces on top of the basted Pocket Flap, right sides together, matching notches and pin. Stitch using a ½ inch seam allowance. 

Turn bodice piece so wrong sides are facing and press the Pocket Bag down. Repeat with bodice piece facing up.

With the right sides together, match notches of a Pocket Bag piece to the Front Hem Panel and pin.

Stitch using a ½ inch seam allowance.

Turn fabric to wrong side and press the Pocket Bag up. Turn the fabric over and press again.

With the right sides together, place the Front Hem Panel on top of the Front Middle Panel. Make sure both Pocket Bags are facing down.

NOTE – You will be matching the sides which have the pockets attached. When you align these pieces, a small corner will stick out.

Pin along the edge, around the Pocket Bag and along the other edge.

Stitch using a ½ inch seam allowance. 

Open the bodice piece with wrong sides facing up and press the seam and Pocket Bag down. Turn over and press again.

Repeat 4.1 to 4.7 for the other front piece and pocket.

TIP – If you find your Pocket Flap wants to flip up, you can choose to clip some of the seam allowance from the corners of your Pocket Bag.  This helps reduce some of the bulk that is pushing your Pocket Flap up.  

With the right sides together, pin the back pieces. Sew using a ½ inch seam allowance. Press the seam allowance open.

If you are doing the half back lined option, follow the steps below. If you are doing the full back lined option, skip to step 6. 

You will be finishing your center back seams using a Hong Kong finish. A Hong Kong finish is a method of binding seams with bias tape. Unlike traditional bound seams, the binding on the wrong side of the seam allowance is left unturned, reducing bulk significantly.

Use shop bought bias binding or use the cutting chart to measure and make your own bias binding. Cut on the bias (diagonally across) of your fabric.

NOTE – You will be using this method to finish all the seams with the half back lined option.

With the right sides together, pin the bias binding to the raw edge of the seam allowance.

TIP – Face right sides together of the Back Bodice and stitch along the seam allowance only. This will ensure you don’t sew through the Back Bodice and only sew along the seam allowance.

Stitch using a ¼ inch seam allowance.

Lay your Back Bodice open with wrong sides facing up and fold the binding up ¼ inch, so that it just covers the stitching line from step 5.2.

Fold the binding over another ¼ inch, so that it now meets up with the back seam stitching line. The raw edges are now enclosed in between the binding.

Pin the binding in place and topstitch close to the folded edge of the bias binding.

TIP – Face right sides together of the Back Bodice and topstitch along the enclosed seam allowance only. This will ensure you don’t topstitch through the Back Bodice.

Repeat steps 5.2 to 5.5 for the other side of the seam.

Lay the back piece right side up. Lay a Front Bodice, right sides down on top of the back piece, matching up the shoulders and pin. 

Stitch using a ½ inch seam allowance. 

With wrong sides facing up, press open the seam allowance.

Match up the side seams of the jacket and pin.

Stitch using a ½ inch seam allowance.

With wrong sides facing up, press open the seam allowance.

Repeat steps 6.1 and 6.2 to attach the other Front Bodice piece and side seams.

Lay the Front Sleeve and Back Sleeve right sides together, matching vent pieces and pin.

Mark one inch below the start of the vent. 

Sew using a ½ inch seam allowance from the Sleeve head to the mark previously transferred onto the vent.

With wrong sides facing up, press open seam allowance, including the vent which is not sewn.

With wrong sides facing up, clip into the seam allowance of the Front Sleeve (the bigger one) above the vent.  

You need to clip quite close to the stitching but be careful not to snip through it!

Fold the Front Sleeve vent (the one you snipped) over the Back Sleeve vent. 

The bigger vent piece should now be covering the smaller vent piece.

Fold the raw edge of the Front Sleeve vent back on itself, matching the raw edge with the raw edge of the snipped seam allowance.  

Press in place.

Fold the bottom of the Sleeve to the wrong side ¼ inch and press. Then fold again another ¾ inch and press. This will create a memory hem.

NOTE – A memory hem is where you fold and press your hem, but do not actually stitch it yet. We do this so that fold lines are pressed into the garment. It’s much easier to do this now, than to try and press the Sleeve hem later when the Sleeve is stitched into a circle.

Unfold your memory hem and match the two long raw edges of the Sleeve right sides together and pin.  

Sew along the long edge using a ½ inch seam allowance. 

Press the seam open as best you can and re-fold the memory hem.

Repeat steps 7.1 to 7.8 for the other Sleeve.

When setting in the Sleeve, you will notice the Sleeve head is larger than the Sleeve opening. You will be easing the Sleeve in around the seam line, not the raw edges. This is a tailored style Sleeve that gives the Sleeve a slight puffed appearance at the shoulder that ready to wear coats have.  

For tips on how to set in a traditional tailored style Sleeve, watch the video here. This video is for another one of our patterns (the Kingston Coat), but the technique is the same. Then follow the steps below.

Turn one Sleeve right side out and the jacket wrong side out.  

With right sides together, slide the Sleeve in the Sleeve opening, matching the side seam of the jacket to the Sleeve seam.

The Back Sleeve section (the smaller of the two Sleeve pieces) should be going towards the back of the jacket. Check you have matched the correct Sleeve to the correct armhole before continuing. 

Pin at the jacket side seam.

NOTE – Do not fold the Sleeve in half to find the center top and bottom. This is not quite where the side seam is. Instead, align the notches with the side seam and follow step 8.2 to align your Sleeve smoothly.  

Hold the pieces so that the jacket is on the bottom and the Sleeve is on the top. Pull the jacket piece taut and hold the Sleeve relaxed.  

Using your thumb, smooth the Sleeve fabric so that it is flat and smooth at the seam.

The seam allowance will look rippled, that is okay. It’s the section of fabric where you’ll be stitching (½ inch in from the edge) which you want flat. 

NOTE – Do not try to align the raw edges, they will not match. It is at the seam allowance (½ inch from the edge) that you need to ease the fabric, so it matches.

Continue to pin around the Sleeve head, being sure to pull the jacket piece taut and ease in the Sleeve at the seam.

Go slowly and sew the Sleeve into the Sleeve opening using a ½ inch seam allowance. 

When you sew the Sleeve, sew with the jacket on the bottom and the Sleeve on top. Hold the pieces so that they are curved up so that the jacket piece stays taut and the Sleeve piece is relaxed.  

Make sure you are sewing right on the ½ inch seam allowance so that the Sleeve fabric is flat and you are not sewing on the rippled part.  

Turn the jacket right way out and check your fabric is smooth around the armhole on both the jacket and the Sleeve

Turn the Sleeve back inside out. Stitch around the armhole again, this time inside the seam allowance ¼ inch from the edge. 

The armhole is one of the most stressed areas of the garment when it is being worn (it moves so much and gets pulled, twisted and pressure put on). By stitching this second row of stitches gives it more strength.

Press seam allowance toward bodice.  

Repeat steps 8.1 to 8.5 for the other Sleeve.

Adding shoulder pads lifts the Sleeve and gives a beautiful shape. If you would like to add shoulder pads to your jacket, please follow the steps below. If you would prefer to leave them out, please skip to step 10.

Fold the shoulder pad in half and add pins at the top and bottom to mark the center.

With wrong sides facing out, match the center of the top (curved edge) of the shoulder pad to the center shoulder seam and pin. 

Line up the long edge of the shoulder pad with the raw edge of the Sleeve seam, matching the center of the shoulder pad to the center of the curved part of the Sleeve. Pin the shoulder pad to the Sleeve seam at the center and each end.

Tack the shoulder pad in place, where you have pinned, by hand sewing through the seam allowances only. Be careful not to tack the jacket. 

Remove the pins.

Repeat steps 9.1 to 9.3 for the other shoulder pad.

NOTE – The image of the jacket shown here is the half back lined option but attaching the shoulder pads is the same for both lined options.

With the right sides together, lay the Collar/Lapel piece (from step 3) onto the jacket and pin, matching center back of Collar with center back of bodice, and matching the keyhole to the Front Bodice seam.

NOTE – The keyhole will match up with the seam in the middle of the Front Bodice (Front Bust and front middle piece). The Collar/Lapel piece doesn’t meet up with the end of the Front Bodice pieces. This will create a frill effect once the keyhole opening is closed in the next step.

NOTE – The interfaced side of the Collar/Lapel should be facing the jacket.  

Close the keyhole by joining each of the long edges of the opening. Pin in place.

Baste to the Front Bodice seam using a ¼ inch seam allowance.

Repeat for the keyhole opening on the opposite front piece.

Sew the Collar/Lapel piece to the jacket using a ½ inch seam allowance. Note how the Lapels don’t match up to the ends of the bodice pieces as mentioned above.

Once this is sewn together the closed keyhole creates a frill type effect through to the bottom of the Lapel.

If you are familiar with making double fold bias tape, we are using that technique here. If not, don’t worry, just follow along here!

Fold your Belt Loop piece in half and press. 

Open this piece flat again and fold the raw edges into the center, meeting at the centerfold made in the previous step. Press.

Fold in half, along your original fold line and press.

Topstitch ⅛ inch on each long edge.

Press each short end ¼ inch to the wrong side.  

Align Belt Loop onto the jacket side seam, in line with the seam across the center front, with folded edges facing down. 

Using a narrow zig-zag stitch, sew along each short edge to attach to your jacket, catching the folded edges.

Repeat steps 11.1 to 11.4 for the second Belt Loop.

This step is the same for both the full back lining and half back lining options.

With right sides together, lay the front facing onto the front lining, matching the short, curved edges and pin. 

NOTE – The facing and front lining will not lay smooth when pinned together. This is due to the nature of the curve, and they will lay smoothly once the facing is flipped to the right side.

Sew using a ½ inch seam allowance. 

With wrong sides facing up, open the facing and press the seam allowance toward the lining.  

Repeat with the other front lining and front facing pieces.

If you are using the half back lining option, skip to step 13.

Lay the two back lining pieces right sides together and pin. 

Stitch using a ½ inch seam allowance.  

Press open the seam allowance.

You will be creating a box pleat on the back lining piece.

Place a pin at each of the marks at the top of the back piece. 

Take the back piece from one of the pinned points and fold to the center back seam. Remove the original pin and reuse the pin to pin this folded piece in place. 

Repeat for the other side.

Baste the pleat in place using a ¼ inch seam allowance.

TIP – If you have a business label, attach this now at the center back, 1½ inches down from the neckline.

Lay the back lining piece right side up. Lay the Front Bodice pieces, right sides down, on top of the back piece, matching up the shoulders and pin. 

Sew the shoulder seams using a ½ inch seam allowance.

With wrong sides facing up, press open the seam allowance.

With right sides together pin the side seams.  

Sew side seams using a ½ inch seam allowance.

With wrong sides facing up, press open the seam allowance.

Skip to step 14 to insert the Sleeves.

If you are using the full back lining option, skip to step 15.

Fold the long edge of the half back lining piece ¼ inch to the wrong side and press. Fold it again another ¼ inch and press again.

Topstitch close to the folded edge.

Repeat for the other half back lining piece.

Lay one of the half back lining pieces right side up and place the other half back lining piece on top of it, also with right side up (wrong side of top facing on top of right side of bottom facing).

Match along the neckline and pin. Baste using a ¼ inch seam allowance.

Lay the back lining piece right side up. Lay the Front Bodice pieces, right sides down, on top of the back piece, matching up the shoulders and pin. 

Sew the shoulder seams using a ½ inch seam allowance.

With wrong sides facing up, press open the seam allowance.

With right sides together pin the side seams.  

Sew side seams using a ½ inch seam allowance.

With wrong sides facing up, press open the seam allowance.

Repeat for opposite side seams.

This step is the same for both the full back lining and half back lining options.

Lay the Front Sleeve and Back Sleeve right sides together, matching markings and pin.

Sew using a ½ inch seam allowance from the Sleeve head to the mark previously transferred on the vent.

With wrong sides facing up, press open seam, including the vent which is not sewn.

Repeat for second Sleeve.  

Align the opposite edge of your Sleeve, right sides facing. Pin.  

Stitch using a ½ inch seam allowance.  

Press seam open as best you can.  

Repeat for second Sleeve.  

This step is the same for both the full back lining and half back lining options.

Turn the lining Sleeve right side out and the jacket lining wrong side out.  

Slide the Sleeve inside the lining making sure the under Sleeve is facing the back of the lining.  

As you did with the main coat Sleeve, match the seam from the Sleeve to the side seam. 

Pin at the side seam.

Ease the Sleeve into the lining at the seam using the method used earlier on the jacket Sleeves, matching the notches. 

Go slowly and sew the Sleeve into the Sleeve opening using a ½ inch seam allowance. 

When you sew the Sleeve, sew with the jacket lining on the bottom and the Sleeve lining on top. Hold the pieces so that they are curved up so that the jacket piece stays taut and the Sleeve piece is relaxed.  

Make sure you are sewing right on the ½ inch seam allowance so that the Sleeve fabric is flat, and you are not sewing on the rippled part.   

Turn the jacket lining right way out and check your fabric is smooth around the armhole on both the jacket and the Sleeve.

Turn the Sleeve back inside out. Stitch around the armhole again, this time inside the seam allowance ¼ inch from the edge.

Repeat steps 16.1 to 16.2 with the other lining Sleeve.

If you are using the half back lining option, skip to step 18.

Open your jacket and jacket lining pieces and lay them on top of each other, with the right sides together, and pin along the bottom edge.

Stitch using a ½ inch seam allowance, leaving an opening of about 4 – 5 inches in the middle of the seam. 

NOTE – This opening will be used to turn the jacket right side out in a later step.

Open up the jacket and lay so both the jacket and lining are right sides facing up.  

Pull the lining up over the outer jacket, right sides together.  Keep pulling so the Lapel bottom sits just in the fold along the bottom (shown in photo 2).  Your outer fabric will fold over itself along the hem of your jacket.  Pin in place.  

Repeat for the opposite side of the jacket.  

Continue to pin the lining to the outer jacket all the way along the side, around the Collar, and down the other side.

Your Collar and Lapel will be hidden inside for this step.  

Stitch using a ½ inch seam allowance.

Using the opening you left in step 15.1, turn the jacket right side. Turn your lining and jacket ½ inch, to the wrong side, and press. Press all around the edges of the jacket.

You are going to use a slip stitch / ladder stitch to close the gap. This type of stitch allows you to close the hem of the jacket, without seeing any stitching on the inside or outside of the jacket. You will be stitching along the folded edge.

Thread your needle, tying the two thread tail ends together in a knot. This will provide added strength to your finished seam. 

Push your needle up and through the folded seam of the jacket, pulling the thread tail completely through.

Your knotted end will now be nicely concealed within the seam on the jacket hem.

Directly across from your starting point, push the needle down and then back up through the opposite seam crease to create a stitch that is between ⅛ – ¼ inch long. When you pull the thread through, you will notice that the stitch you just made is concealed within the seam crease, and there will be a horizontal stitch connecting the left and right sides of your opening.

Repeat these steps, until you reach the end of the opening. To tighten the stitches, gently pull the thread. This will conceal the stitches in between the seams.

NOTE – We left the stitches loose in the picture to show you what the ladder stitch looks like.

To end off you create a loop for your needle to pass through by picking up a tiny section of the opposite seam and passing your needle through the loop. Tighten to form a knot. If you need to reinforce the stitching repeat this step. Snip your threads. Press if needed.

Skip to step 19 to finish the Sleeves.

If you are using the full back lining option, skip to step 19.

You’ll be adding a binding to the bottom edge of the jacket back piece (not across the bottom of the Front Bodice pieces), like the binding you added to the center back seam in step 5.2.

Open your jacket with wrong sides facing up. Pin the binding piece, right side facing down, to the bottom edge of the jacket, across the Back Bodice piece only. 

Stitch using a ¼ inch seam allowance.

Flip the jacket over so that the right side is up. Fold the binding up ¼ inch, so that it meets up with the raw edge of the jacket.

Fold the binding again so that it just covers the stitching line from 18.1 and pin. The raw edges are now enclosed in between the binding.

Pin the binding in place and topstitch close to the folded edge of the bias binding.

Open your jacket and lining bodice piece and lay them on top of each other, with right sides together, and pin along the bottom edges.

Stitch both sides using a ½ inch seam allowance.

Open up the jacket and lay so both the jacket and lining are right sides facing up.  

Pull the lining up over the outer jacket, right sides together.  Keep pulling so the Lapel bottom sits just in the fold along the bottom (shown in photo 2).  Your outer fabric will fold over itself along the hem of your jacket.  Pin in place.  

Repeat for the opposite side of the jacket.  

Continue to pin the lining to the outer jacket all the way along the side, around the Collar, and down the other side.

Your Collar and Lapel will be hidden inside for this step.  

Stitch using a ½ inch seam allowance.

NOTE – The images shown here are for the full back lined option, but the steps are the same.

Turn the jacket right side out. Press all around the edge of the jacket. Press the Back Bodice (the part that doesn’t have any lining) hem up. 

Hand sew the middle of the hem to the center back binding, making sure not to sew through the outer layer of the jacket.

This step is the same for both the full back lining and half back lining options.

We will now finish the Sleeve vent. This can be a slightly tricky part to work out so here is a video to help. This video is for another one of our patterns (the Kingston Coat), but the technique is the same.

What I would recommend is to watch the video, then go through step 18 and pin the whole Sleeve hem & vent in the order suggested. Then come back and read through again, this time slip stitching the lining to the shell (using the same technique as in step 17.4) as per the yellow dotted lines.

There are also photos of the finished Sleeve vent towards the end of this step to help.

Turn the lining right side out and feed the Jacket Sleeves into the lining Sleeves. They will be wrong sides together. 

TIP – With your jacket on the inside, lining on the outside, run your hand along the Sleeve lining seam to the armpit of the jacket and check that your jacket and lining isn’t twisted. 

Find the corner of the jacket Sleeve vent. Match the corner of the lining vent up with this and pin. Keeping the folded edges aligned and all the raw edges tucked inside, pin the Sleeve and lining together on this side of the vent only. 

NOTE – The two hemlines won’t match up if you try to pin them together. The jacket hemline will be longer than the lining hemline. This is correct.

Fold the jacket memory hem (created in step 7.7) up ¼ inch and then ¾ inch. It will now overlap the lining. Pin from the same side you attached the vent, all the way around the Sleeve.

Keeping the hemlines flush, continue to pin the jacket and lining together at the hem.

NOTE – The lining and Sleeve will be flush at the hemline and the part of the coat vent that is on the bottom, when the coat is inside out. It is on top while your coat is inside out. If your coat was right side out, it would be underneath. The lining will not be aligned with the other edge of the coat vent that is on the top when the coat is inside out.

You will be using a slip stitch to attach the lining to the jacket, using the same technique as in step 15.4.  

Start at the bottom of the jacket Sleeve vent and stitch up the vent. Stitch across the top of the vent and back down.

NOTE – Make sure you aren’t stitching through the outer layer of the Sleeve, but only through the lining.  

Continue around the rest of the Sleeve hem until you come back to your starting point. 

You should now have stitched all the way around the hemline. 

All raw edges should be tucked inside.

With the right sides together, pin the belt pieces at the short edge. 

Stitch using a ½ inch seam allowance.

With wrong sides facing up, press the seam open.

Fold the belt in half, matching up the long raw edges and pin. 

Stitch along all raw edges using a ½ inch seam allowance, leaving a 2-inch gap in the middle for turning.

Clip the corners to reduce bulk. If you haven’t done this before, you just cut straight across the corner, close to but not touching the stitching.

There are several ways to turn the belt tube right side out. If you have a preferred method you are more familiar with, please use this. Alternatively, here is how I like to do it with a loop turner.

Insert the loop turner inside the belt tube until it reaches the other end. Perforate the fabric with the little clasp and push it to close the hook. Pull the loop turner back inside very delicately. While pulling the loop turner inside, smooth the fabric upwards towards the top of the hook and roll the fabric on itself inside the tube so it is wrong sides together. Continue to roll until you’ve turned the tube right side out completely.

If you want a flat loop, press the tube. Either way, roll the seam under between your fingers.

Fold the raw edges in, using the seam allowance, to the inside of the belt and press. You will use the creases of these folds to guide you as you sew.

Slip stitch the gap closed using the same technique as in step 16.4.

Alternatively, you could topstitch around your belt. Do this now, enclosing the raw edges of the seam allowance of the gap. 

Press.

Thread your finished belt, through the Belt Loops and the keyhole on the front Lapel, and you’re finished!